Turetskiy gambit (2005)

The film is based on the second book from the Adventures of Erast Petrovich Fandorin series of novels written by the Russian author Boris Akunin. The film takes place in 1877 during the ... See full summary »

Director:

Dzhanik Fayziev

Writers:

Boris Akunin (novel), Boris Akunin (screenplay)

Stars:

Egor Beroev, Olga Krasko, Marat Basharov

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Egor Beroev	...	Erast Petrovich Fandorin
Olga Krasko	...	Varvara Suvorova
Marat Basharov	...	Gridnev
Vladimir Ilin	...	Gen. Mizinov
Dmitriy Pevtsov	...	Zurov
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Lukan
Aleksandr Baluev	...	Gen. Sobolev
Aleksey Guskov	...	Kazanzaki
Yuriy Kutsenko	...	Ismail-Bei (as Gosha Kutsenko)
Andrey Krasko	...	Non-comissionned Officer
Leonid Kuravlyov	...	Retired Major
Evgeniy Lazarev	...	Tsar Aleksandr II
Didier Bienaimé	...	D'Hevrais
Viktor Bychkov
Sergey Gazarov	...	Gubernator

Storyline

The film is based on the second book from the Adventures of Erast Petrovich Fandorin series of novels written by the Russian author Boris Akunin. The film takes place in 1877 during the Russian-Turkish war. Erast Fandorin has just escaped from Turkish prison and is trying to get on the Russian side as soon as possible to give important information about the upcoming attack of the enemy. On his way he meets Varvara Suvorova, a young lady who is going to see her fiancée - a soldier of the Russian army. Erast also knows that there is a spy somewhere in the Russian army, everyone is under suspicion...

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Plot Keywords:

spy | bulgaria | russian history | sword | dice game | 

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Genres:

War | Action | Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [ru]

Country:

Russia Bulgaria

Language:

Russian Turkish French Bulgarian

Release Date:

22 February 2005 (Russia)

Also Known As:

The Turkish Gambit

Filming Locations:

Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel One Russia, Studio Trite

Technical Specs

Runtime:

208 min 130 min (theatrical) 208 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All Erast Fandorin's stunts in the film except for one are performed by Egor Beroev himself.

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Goofs

The foreign observers in the Russian Army wear white, blue, and red arm bands to symbolize they are on the Russian side. The white, blue, and red flag was only adopted by Russia during WW1. It was white, yellow, and black before WW1, the colors were changed because they resembled the colors of the Central Powers.

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Connections

References Time of the Gypsies (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Idem na Vostok"
by Nogu Svelo!

User Reviews

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I have to disagree with some of the comments on this movie, judging the movie by some different criteria.

Firstly, the plot line idea of this motion picture is not as irrational as it may appear to some of us. this film was based on a novel that served a purpose to provide its readers a war-romance-conspiracy adventure. It is not very much different from the American "Patriot" story where a greater salad has been composed, with pretty trite issues thrown around. Beside that, to support the illusive reality of the Turkish war presented in this film - we are not very familiar with the general atmosphere during the 19th century wars, but there are things that simply called: War routine. Of course there is blood and gore and death on the front lines of the battles. Surely there is a lot of strategy going on behind the scenes. But even during these climax moments, and mostly in-between those there was always a place for some dramatic drawbacks, singing in the club and even relationships between young Russian soldiers and coffee drinking in Plevna. Wars are not always fought in face to face battles. And a very large part in deciding who wins the fight is the strategy and the information you gather about your enemy. Which was what the story concentrated on. The spies.

Moreover, I did not like the acting. Sometimes it was exaggerated and underplayed in some places. The best acting in this movie on my scale was that of the "Gusar" officer - so typically presenting the character. The leading roles could have been performed better.

And lastly: the sound. What is it with the Russian cinema that I can never get a normal sound feature? They put the theme on top of the dialogues, the battle effects lack intensity, the speech is incomprehensible. When Turkish is spoken, the Russian translation starts after a little delay, which makes it really difficult to hear. They don't mute the environment when it is needed, and the explosion sounds still have the usual echo-shrieking effect. Alas! indeed.

Overall, once the viewer can get himself to connect to the plot, to enter the minds of both the Turkish and the Russian combatants and to merge with the general 19th war atmosphere - it is possible to simply sit back and enjoy this movie as another spy-adventure. Was tempted to give it an 8, but settled on 7.